The CRUCH Library Commission meets at ULagos Osorno

The meeting allowed progress in the collaborative work maintained by the libraries of the universities of the Council of Rectors of Chile.

Furthermore, the commission ratified Karen Jara, from the University of Concepción, as president. The rest of the board is comprised of: Vice President, Rodrigo Donoso, University of Chile; Secretary, Claudia Chau, Catholic University of Temuco; Subdivisions Coordinator, Pedro Robles, Catholic University of the North; and Communications Coordinator, Héctor García, University of La Serena.

(Courtesy of the communications department of the University of Los Lagos)

With the presence of the 30 universities that make up the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) at the facilities of the University of Los Lagos, the face-to-face meeting of the directors of Library Systems that make up the Advisory Commission of Libraries and Documentation (CABID) was held on November 9 and 10.

The meeting, which lasted for two days, allowed participants to address the main challenges facing library systems in Chilean universities today.

“Our main challenge is fundamentally to work on the role of the Library Advisory Commission as a technical committee within the National Open Access Infrastructure Advisory Council, a task entrusted to us by the university presidents. This includes the work of our subcommittees, where we are updating our library standards (the current ones are from 2020), incorporating a specific principle for inclusion, and addressing database research and the investment made by the council's universities in all these resources, as well as how we can optimize their management to foster collaborative work,” she explains. Karen Jara Maricic, Director of the Library System of the University of Concepción, President of CABID (Advisory Committee on Libraries and Documentation of the CRUCH)

The virtual nature of libraries and the challenges of rapidly transforming systems to meet needs amidst the pandemic are among the issues already being addressed by the CABID commission. “During the pandemic, we all had to transition to a completely virtual environment. We're not just talking about electronic resources, but also transforming libraries and their services. This led us, as a commission, to consider how we can share this knowledge, unite as libraries, and develop initiatives such as digitization, reviewing copyright laws to enhance our collections, and, of course, reducing associated costs, since budgets in all institutions have been decreasing, and we are no exception,” adds Karen Jara Maricic.

The host of the event was the Director of the ULagos Library System, Sergio Arce who highlighted the in-person meeting as a real opportunity to work with the various universities.

“It is important that all the library directors from the Council of Rectors, one of the Council's advisory bodies, come here so they can learn about and share the reality of the University of Los Lagos. It also allows us to connect with specific universities with which we have agreements and, in a single timeframe, hold parallel meetings and reach agreements. All 30 universities are represented here,” he said.

The event was inaugurated by video conference by the rector of the Catholic University of Temuco, Aliro Bórquez, the reporting rector of the commission.

And it is precisely from that university that he is Claudia Chau, secretary of the CABID Commission and director of the Library System of the Catholic University of Temuco, Claudia Chau, who emphasizes that they meet twice a year, explained that the purpose of this meeting was "to showcase the results of the work of the subcommittees established within our commission, such as digital skills, modernization of statutes, indicators, and the services we provide to research, among others. During this time working remotely from home, we realized that significant work needs to be done in the area of digital skills. This presents a challenge for the future: how to define a digital skills program within CABID so that each university can collaboratively advance in this area, building upon the experiences of other institutions within our CABID network. We also discussed how to support research, digital identity, and ultimately, how, through technology and its integration into our management systems and repositories, we can move forward in a standardized way and create opportunities for international collaboration," Chau stated.

During the second and final day of the year's meeting, the work of the subcommittees for 2023 was planned, the CABID 2020-2022 board's report was presented, and the 2023 board was elected, again led by Chairwoman Karen Jara, University of Concepción. Vice president: Rodrigo Donoso, University of Chile. Secretary: Claudia Chau, Catholic University of Temuco. Subdivision Coordinator: Pedro Robles, Catholic University of the North and Communications Coordinator: Héctor García, University of La Serena.